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The Iron Giant (film)
The Iron Giant is a 1999 animated science fiction drama film using both traditional animation and computer animation, produced by Warner Bros. Animation, and based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man (novel) by Ted Hughes. The film is co-written and directed by Brad Bird, and features the voices of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin Diesel, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald, and John Mahoney. The film is about a lonely boy named Hogarth Hughes who is being raised by his mother Annie Hughes (the widow of an Air Force pilot), who discovers an iron giant who fell from space. With the help of a beatnik named Dean, they have to stop the U.S. military and a federal agent (Kent Mansley) from finding and destroying the Giant. The Iron Giant takes place in October 1957 in the American state of Maine in the city of Rockwell during the height of the Cold War. The film's development phase began around 1994, though the project finally started taking root once Bird signed on as director, and his hiring of Tim McCanlies to write the screenplay in 1996. The script was given approval by Ted Hughes, author of the original novel, and production struggled through difficulties (Bird even enlisted the aid of a group of students from CalArts). Upon its release, the film saw wide critical acclaim from critics and audiences. It was nominated for several awards, winning nine Annie Awards. Due to an unusually poor marketing campaign, the film significantly under-performed at the box office, making $31.3 million worldwide against a budget of $70–80 million. Through home video releases and television syndication, the film gathered a cult following and is now widely regarded as a modern animated classic. An extended, remastered version of the film was screened theatrically in 2015, preceding a release on Blu-ray Disc. Plot In 1957, a large alien robot crashes from orbit near the coast of Rockwell, Maine with no memory. Shortly after, the Iron Giant wanders off into the mainland. Nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes follows a trail of the forest's destruction and frees the robot, who is stuck in the power cables of an electrical substation. After being rescued by and befriended by Hogarth, the Giant follows him back to his house, where he lives with his widowed mother Annie. Upon their return, the robot attempts to eat the iron off the nearby railroad tracks. Alarmed at the sound of an incoming train, Hogarth tells the giant to repair the tracks. The robot attempts this, but takes too long, causing the train to collide with his head. Hogarth hides the damaged robot in their barn where he discovers the robot is self repairing. Later that night, Hogarth returns to the barn with a stack of comic books to read to the Giant. The robot is impressed with Superman, but distressed when he discovers a comic about an evil robot; Hogarth tells the robot that it can be who he chooses to be. Investigating the destroyed substation, U.S. government agent Kent Mansley discovers evidence of the robot and decides to continue his inquiries in nearby Rockwell. Finding a BB gun Hogarth left near the substation the night he found the Giant, Mansley takes up a room for rent at Hogarth's home and trails the boy to learn more. He is paranoid about an alien invasion and alerts the U.S. Army to the possible presence of the robot. Worried that they will get caught, Hogarth evades Mansley and takes the robot to beatnik artist Dean McCoppin who passes off the robot as one of his works of art when Mansley and General Rogard investigate. Hogarth pretends to attack the robot with a toy gun, and inadvertently causes the robot to activate a weapons system in retaliation. Dean saves Hogarth; they command the robot to leave, but soon realize that it cannot control its self-defense reaction. They chase after it before reaching town. In Rockwell, the robot saves two boys, but Mansley, having seen it, orders an attack to stop it. The robot flees with Hogarth until he is shot down by a missile fired from an F-86. After crash landing, the robot believes Hogarth to be dead; enraged, it activates its weapons and attacks the Army, who are no match for the advanced firepower. Mansley lies to Rogard that the robot killed Hogarth, before telling him to lure the robot out to sea so they can destroy it with a nuclear ballistic missile from the USS Nautilus (SSN-571). Hogarth (alive the whole time) wakes up and calms the robot down, causing it to deactivate its weapons. Dean tells Rogard and his men to stand down. Rogard, realizing that Mansley lied to him, is about to tell the Nautilus to stand down, but Mansley snatches the walkie-talkie and orders the Nautilus to launch the missile. Realizing the deadly mistake, Rogard lambastes Mansley and informs him that not only the robot, but everyone in Rockwell, will be destroyed when the missile hits. Mansley refuses to take note of the towns fate and tries to escape Rockwell in order to save himself, but the robot stops him and he is arrested by the Army. When Hogarth tells the robot about Rockwell's fate, the robot flies off to intercept the missile, as a hero, not a weapon. The robot and missile seem to collide, causing a massive explosion high up in the atmosphere. The people of the town recognize the giant as a hero, but everyone, especially Hogarth, is deeply saddened by the robot's sacrifice. Some time later, Annie and Dean have a romantic relationship and Dean has created a statue honoring the robot. Hogarth receives a package from Rogard, containing the only piece of the robot they found, a small jaw bolt. That night, Hogarth awakens to a familiar beeping coming from the bolt, which is trying to get out his window. He knows the robot is repairing itself somewhere and he opens it to let the bolt out. On the Langjökull glacier in Iceland various parts of the robot approach the snowdrift where the head rests, eyes glowing, as the robot wakes up and smiles. Cast *Eli Marienthal as Hogarth Hughes, an energetic, young, curious boy with an active imagination. He is the main protagonist of the film. *Jennifer Aniston as Annie Hughes, a widow and Hogarth's single mother. She is also Dean's love interest. *Harry Connick, Jr. as Dean McCoppin, a beatnik artist and junkyard owner who "sees art where others see junk". * Vin Diesel as The Iron Giant, a one hundred-foot, metal-eating robot. The Giant reacts defensively if it recognizes anything as a weapon, immediately attempting to destroy it, but can stop himself. The specific creator of the giant is never revealed. In a deleted scene, he has a brief vision of robots similar to him destroying a different planet. *Christopher McDonald as Kent Mansley, an arrogant, ambitious and paranoid N.S.A. agent sent to investigate the Iron Giant. He is the main antagonist of the film. *John Mahoney as General Rogard, the military leader in Washington, D.C. who strongly dislikes Mansley. *M. Emmet Walsh as Earl Stutz, a sailor and the first man to see the robot. *James Gammon as Marv Loach, a foreman who follows the robot's trail after it destroys the power station. *Cloris Leachman as Mrs. Tensedge, Hogarth's no-nonsense schoolteacher. Additional Voices Production Development In 1986, rock musician Pete Townshend became interested in writing "a modern song-cycle in the manner of Tommy (rock opera)", and chose Ted Hughes' The Iron Man (novel) as his subject. Three years later, The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend album was released. The same year Pete Townshend produced a short film set to the album single "A Friend is a Friend" featuring The Iron Man (novel) in a mix of stop frame animation and live action directed by Matt Forrest. In 1993, a stage version was mounted at London’s Old Vic. Des McAnuff, who had adapted Tommy (musical) with Townshend for the stage, believed that The Iron Man could translate to the screen, and the project was ultimately acquired by Warner Bros. In late 1996, while developing the project on its way through, the studio saw the film as a perfect vehicle for Brad Bird, who at the time was working for Turner Feature Animation. Turner Entertainment had recently merged with Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner, and Bird was allowed to transfer to the Warner Bros. Animation studio to direct The Iron Giant. After reading the original Iron Man book by Hughes, Bird was impressed with the mythology of the story and in addition, was given an unusual amount of creative control by Warner Bros.This creative control involved introducing two new characters not present in the original book: Dean and Kent. Bird's pitch to Warner Bros. was based around the idea "What if a gun had a soul?" Bird decided to have the story set to take place in the 1950s as he felt the time period "presented a wholesome surface, yet beneath the wholesome surface was this incredible paranoia. We were all going to die in a freak-out." The financial failure of Warner Bros.' previous animated effort, Quest for Camelot, whose cost overruns and production nightmares made the company reconsider their commitment to feature animation, helped shape The Iron Giant's production considerably. In a 2003 interview, writer Tim McCanlies recalled "Quest for Camelot did so badly that everybody backed away from animation and fired people. Suddenly we had no executive anymore on Iron Giant, which was great because Brad got to make his movie. Because nobody was watching." Bird, who regarded Camelot as "trying to emulate the Disney style," attributed the creative freedom on The Iron Giant to the bad experience of Quest for Camelot, stating: "I caught them at a very strange time, and in many ways a fortuitous time." By the time The Iron Giant entered production, Warner Bros. informed the staff that there would be a smaller budget as well as time-frame to get the film completed. However, although the production was watched closely, Bird commented "They did leave us alone if we kept it in control and showed them we were producing the film responsibly and getting it done on time and doing stuff that was good." Bird regarded the tradeoff as having "one-third of the money of a Disney or DreamWorks film, and half of the production schedule," but the payoff as having more creative freedom, describing the film as "fully-made by the animation team; I don't think any other studio can say that to the level that we can." Writing Tim McCanlies was hired to write the script, though Bird was somewhat displeased with having another writer on board, as he himself wanted to write the screenplay. He later changed his mind after reading McCanlies' unproduced screenplay for Secondhand Lions. In Bird's original story treatment, America and the USSR were at war at the end, with the Giant dying. McCanlies decided to have a brief scene displaying his survival, stating, "You can't kill and then not bring him back." McCanlies finished the script within two months, and was surprised once Bird convinced the studio not to use Townshend's songs. Townshend did not care either way, saying "Well, whatever, I got paid." McCanlies was given a three-month schedule to complete a script, and it was by way of the film's tight schedule that Warner Bros. "didn't have time to mess with us" as McCanlies said. Hughes himself was sent a copy of McCanlies' script and sent a letter back, saying how pleased he was with the version. In the letter, Hughes stated, "I want to tell you how much I like what Brad Bird has done. He’s made something all of a piece, with terrific sinister gathering momentum and the ending came to me as a glorious piece of amazement. He’s made a terrific dramatic situation out of the way he’s developed The Iron Giant. I can’t stop thinking about it."Sadly, Hughes did not get to see the movie, as he died in October 1998. Animation Bird opted to produce The Iron Giant entirely in the widescreen CinemaScope format, but was warned against doing so by his advisors. Bird felt it was appropriate to use the format, as many films from the late 1950s were produced in such widescreen formats, and was eventually allowed to produce the feature in the wide 2.39:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio It was decided to animate the Giant using computer-generated imagery as the various animators working on the film found it hard "drawing a metal object in a fluid-like manner." A new computer program was created for this task, while the art of Norman Rockwell, Edward Hopper and N.C. Wyeth inspired the design. Bird brought in students from CalArts to assist in minor animation work due to the film's busy schedule. The Giant's voice was originally to be electronically modulated but the filmmakers decided they "needed a deep, resonant and expressive voice to start with", and were about to hire Peter Cullen, due to his recent history with voice acting The Transformers (TV series), but, due to Cullen's unavailability at the time, Vin Diesel was hired instead.Cullen, however, did some voice-over work for the film's theatrical trailer. Teddy Newton, a storyboard artist, played an important role in shaping the film's story. Newton's first assignment on staff involved being asked by Bird to create a film within a film to reflect the "hygiene-type movies that everyone saw when the bomb scare was happening." Newton came to the conclusion that a musical number would be the catchiest alternative, and the "Duck and Cover sequence" came to become one of the crew members' favorites of the film.Nicknamed "The X-Factor" by story department head Jeffery Lynch, the producers gave him artistic freedom on various pieces of the film's script. Music The score for the film was composed and conducted by Michael Kamen. Bird's original temp score, "a collection of Bernard Hermann cues from 50's and 60's sci-fi films," initially scared Kamen. Believing the sound of the orchestra is important to the feeling of the film, Kamen "decided to comb eastern Europe for an "old-fashioned" sounding orchestra and went to Prague to hear Vladimir Ashkenazy conduct the Czech Philharmonic in Richard Strauss's An Alpine Symphony." Eventually, the Czech Philharmonic was the orchestra used for the film's score, with Bird describing the symphony orchestra as "an amazing collection of musicians." Kamen's score for the feature was nominated and won an Annie Award for Annie Award for Music in an Animated Feature Production on November 6, 1999. Themes The film is set in 1957 during a period of the Cold War characterized by escalation in tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1957, Sputnik was launched, raising the possibility of nuclear attack from space. Anti-communism and the potential threat of nuclear destruction cultivated an atmosphere of fear and paranoia which also led to a proliferation of films about alien invasion. In one scene, Hogarth's class is seen watching an animated film named Atomic Holocaust, based on Duck and Cover, an actual film that offered advice on how to survive if the USSR bombed the USA. The film also has an anti-gun message in it. When the Iron Giant sees a deer get killed by hunters, the Iron Giant notices two rifles discarded by the deer's body. The Iron Giant's eyes turn red showing hostility to any gun. It is repeated throughout the film, "Guns kill." and "You're not a gun." Despite the anti-war and anti-gun themes, the film avoids demonizing the military, and presents General Rogard as an essentially rational and sympathetic figure, in contrast to the power-hungry civilian Mansley. Hogarth's message to the giant, "You are who you choose to be", played a pivotal role in the film. Writer Tim McCanlies commented that "At a certain point, there are deciding moments when we pick who we want to be. And that plays out for the rest of your life." McCanlies said that movies can provide viewers with a sense of right and wrong, and expressed a wish that the movie would "make us feel like we're all part of humanity which is something we need to feel." Release Box office The Iron Giant premiered at Mann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on July 31, 1999, with a special ceremony preceding the screening in which a concrete slab bearing the title character's footprint was commemorated. The film opened in Los Angeles and New York on August 4, 1999, with a wider national release occurring on August 6 in the United States. It opened in 2,179 theaters in the U.S., ranking at number nine at the box office accumulating $5,732,614 over its opening weekend. It was quick to drop out of the top ten; by its fourth week, it had only accumulated $18.9 million—far under its reported $70 million budget. According to Dave McNary of the Los Angeles Daily News, "Its weekend per-theater average was only $2,631, an average of $145 or perhaps 30 tickets per showing"—leading theater owners to quickly discard the film. At the time, Warner Bros. was shaken by the resignations of executives Bob Daly and Terry Semel, making the failure much worse. T.L. Stanley of Brandweek cited it as an example of how media tie-ins were now essential to guaranteeing a film's success. The film went on to gross $23,159,305 domestically and $8,174,612 internationally for a total of $31,333,917 worldwide. Analysts deemed it a victim of poor timing and "a severe miscalculation of how to attract an audience." Lorenzo di Bonaventura, president of Warner Bros. at the time, explained, "People always say to me, 'Why don't you make smarter family movies?' The lesson is, Every time you do, you get slaughtered." Critical reception The Iron Giant received beautiful critical acclaim from both critics and audiences. Based on 132 reviews collected by the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, The Iron Giant received an overall 96% "Certified Fresh" approval rating, with an average score of 8.2/10. The consensus reads: "Engaging, endearing, affecting and charmingly retro, The Iron Giant tackles touchy subjects and complex relationships with a steady hand and beautiful animation direction from Brad Bird." On Metacritic, the film achieved an average score of 85 out of 100 based on 27 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim". In addition to its response from film critics, CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film an "A" grade. The Reel Source forecasting service calculated that "96–97%" of audiences that attended recommended the film. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called it "straight-arrow and subversive, and made with simplicity as well as sophistication," writing, "it feels like a classic even though it's just out of the box." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times compared it, both in story and animation, to the works of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, summarizing the film as "not just a cute romp but an involving story that has something to say." The New Yorker reviewer Michael Sragow dubbed it a "modern fairy tale," writing, "The movie provides a master class in the use of scale and perspective—and in its power to open up a viewer’s heart and mind." Time‍‍ '‍s Richard Schickel deemed it "a smart live-and-let-live parable, full of glancing, acute observations on all kinds of big subjects—life, death, the military-industrial complex." Lawrence Van Gelder, writing for the New York Times, deemed it a "smooth, skilled example of animated filmmaking." Joe Morgensternof The Wall Street Journal felt it "beautiful, oh so beautiful, as a work of coherent art," noting, "be assured that the film is, before anything else, deliciously funny and deeply affecting." Both Hollywood trade publications were positive: David Hunter of The Hollywood Reporter predicted it to be a sleeper hit and called it "outstanding," while Lael Loewenstein of Variety called it "a visually appealing, well-crafted film ... an unalloyed success." Bruce Fretts of Entertainment Weekly commented, "I have long thought that I was born without the gene that would allow me to be emotionally drawn in by drawings. That is, until I saw The Iron Giant." Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle agreed that the storytelling was far superior to other animated films, and cited the characters as plausible and noted the richness of moral themes. Jeff Millar of the Houston Chronicle agreed with the basic techniques as well, and concluded the voice cast being excelled with a great script by Tim McCanlies. Amid the positive reviews, a negative review came from The Washington Post‍‍ '‍s Stephen Hunter, who opined, "The movie — as beautifully drawn, as sleek and engaging as it is — has the annoyance of incredible smugness." Accolades The Hugo Awards nominated The Iron Giant for Best Dramatic Presentation, while the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America honored Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies with the Nebula Award nomination. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts gave the film a Children's Award as Best Feature Film. In addition The Iron Giant won nine Annie Awards and was nominated for another six categories, with another nomination for Best Home Video Release at The Saturn Awards. IGN ranked The Iron Giant as the fifth favorite animated film of all time in a list published in 2010. The American Film Institute nominated The Iron Giant for its Top 10 Animated Films list.AFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot Home media and television syndication Stung by criticism that it mounted an ineffective marketing campaign for its theatrical release, Warner Bros. revamped its advertising strategy for the video release of the film, including tie-ins with Honey Nut Cheerios, AOL and General Motors and secured the backing of three U.S. congressmen (Ed Markey, Mark Foley and Howard Berman). Awareness of the film was increased by its February 2000 release as a pay-per-view title, which also increased traffic to the film's web site. The Iron Giant was released on VHS and DVD on November 23, 1999, with a laserdisc release following on December 6. The VHS edition came in three versions—pan and scan, pan and scan with an affixed Giant toy to the clamshell case, and a widescreen version. All of the initial widescreen home video releases were in 1.85:1, the incorrect aspect ratio for the film. In 2000, television rights to the film were sold to Cartoon Network and TNT for three million dollars. The networks marketed the film as an overlooked but acclaimed film. Cartoon Network showed the film continuously for 24 consecutive hours in the early 2000s for such holidays as the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. The Special Edition DVD was released on November 16, 2004. In 2014, Brad Bird went to Warner Bros. to talk about the possibility of releasing The Iron Giant on Blu-ray. "WB & I have been talking. But they want a bare bones disc. I want better," Bird said on his Twitter account. He also said that fans can log on to their Twitter accounts and post a tweet on the Twitter homepage of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, demanding a Collector's Edition Blu-ray for the film. ''Signature Edition'' A remastered and extended cut of the film was announced on July 7, 2015 in a tweet by director Brad Bird. Information on the Fathom Events website revealed that the Signature Edition is a digitally remastered version approximately 10 minutes longer than the original cut, and features two new scenes. The Signature Edition was shown in one-off screenings across the United States on September 30 and October 4. It was accompanied by an introduction by Brad Bird and a preview of a documentary entitled The Iron Giant: Disassembled. In the introduction, Bird described the difference between hand-drawn and digital animation, stating that digital animation is "just information" while the lines in hand-drawn animation are "alive". He also expressed a hope that there would always be traditionally-animated movie and thanked the audience for coming to see the movie in the theater. The Signature Edition became available for purchase from iTunes on October 5, 2015, with a Blu-ray release shortly thereafter that included the documentary. Gallery The Iron Giant 2015 Re-Release Poster.jpg References